Homemade Animal Crackers

So along with making my own gold fish crackers, I have started making our animal crackers as well. These are so much better then store bought! My kids love them, my husband loves them, and I love them! (And how rare is it that everyone in the family likes the same thing?)

*Pictures to come later*

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour from hard white wheat as that is what I had available)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar (You can use white or brown sugar, I usually use brown)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Over a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and mace. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and beat until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
5. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface. If the dough cracks while rolling, let it stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes more.
6. Preheat an oven to 350°F.
7. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Dip cookie cutters into flour just before using and cut out the shapes. Gather up the left over dough, reroll, and cut out more cookies.
8. Bake the cookies until very light golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool to room temperature.
9.  To store, once completely cooled, I just put in a covered container on the counter. :-)

Homemade Gold Fish

Recently, I have been making our gold fish crackers instead of buying them from the store. Why you might ask, well, it's simple. They are way yummier and they are better for you! So here you go, here's the recipe:

This is the cookie cutter I use. Now, you can use any cookie cutter you want, don't feel trapped in that it must be a small fish. A circle will work just as well. :)

6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* I just use all whole wheat flour (from hard white wheat) as that is what I keep in the house. If all you have is all-purpose, then use that and they will still turn out great!
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, running the machine until the dough forms a ball, about two minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick. Use the cookie cutter, dipping it in flour from time to time to ensure a clean cut. Gently transfer crackers to an ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet with a 1/2 inch between them. Bake the crackers on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are barely browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.

Look at all those cut out fish! Just mix the dough back up and roll it back out and use your cookie cutter to make more fish!

Finished product. They really are yummy and a favorite around here.

To store, I keep them in a sealed container on the counter, if they last that long. :-)